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-- had to take my webserver down, security advise?


Posted by Dj Dizzy on Sep-15-2007 01:44:

had to take my webserver down, security advise?

i decided to shut down my webserver because i noticed in the event log that it has been HAMMERED for the past 48 hours by some jackass(es) trying to get onto it with every username in the book, especially the admin account.

it currently is running ISA Server 2000 and is behind an cheap SPI firewall (port forwarding, not DMZ) and I was thinking of putting BlackICE Server on it in addition to. The admin account has been renamed from the start, but are there any recommendations to keep my webserver secure without buying hardware?

It looks like they succeeded in f'ing it up cuz the one of the volumes is corrupt now, luckily I have backup so no biggie cuz I needed to actually repartition it anyway.


Posted by gehzumteufel on Sep-15-2007 01:48:

LAMP?


Posted by Dj Dizzy on Sep-15-2007 01:54:

quote:
Originally posted by gehzumteufel
LAMP?


Basically it's a VMware machine running Windows Server 2003 Web Edition w/ ISA 2000 and I'm using IIS for the website. Maybe that's my first mistake, I've never used Apache so I used IIS out of familiarity. I've never heard of LAMP but I just looked it up, is that available for Apache for Windows? Or should I seriously consider creating a Linux server instead, if I do that then I lose the ability to run BlackICE, etc on it though cuz I only have it for Windows.


Posted by gehzumteufel on Sep-15-2007 01:58:

quote:
Originally posted by Dj Dizzy
Basically it's a VMware machine running Windows Server 2003 Web Edition w/ ISA 2000 and I'm using IIS for the website. Maybe that's my first mistake, I've never used Apache so I used IIS out of familiarity. I've never heard of LAMP but I just looked it up, is that available for Apache for Windows? Or should I seriously consider creating a Linux server instead, if I do that then I lose the ability to run BlackICE, etc on it though cuz I only have it for Windows.

blackICE as in the firewall app? no worries cause there are many other linux firewall apps available anyways.

iptables comes to mind.


Posted by Dj Dizzy on Sep-15-2007 02:06:

quote:
Originally posted by gehzumteufel
blackICE as in the firewall app? no worries cause there are many other linux firewall apps available anyways.

iptables comes to mind.


yeah I have BlackICE Server Protection 3.6 the firewall software but didn't think I would need it. Would it really be better for me to go LAMP like you suggested and run a Linux server with a Linux firewall or do you think it would be okay for me to keep Windows Server 2003 w/ ISA 2000 and load BlackICE and dump IIS for Apache.


Posted by gehzumteufel on Sep-15-2007 02:08:

quote:
Originally posted by Dj Dizzy
yeah I have BlackICE Server Protection 3.6 the firewall software but didn't think I would need it. Would it really be better for me to go LAMP like you suggested and run a Linux server with a Linux firewall or do you think it would be okay for me to keep Windows Server 2003 w/ ISA 2000 and load BlackICE and dump IIS for Apache.

well from an ease of use angle its easier to just dump IIS and load apache. from a robustness angle LAMP will own the windows server. it will be able to handle more, utilize the resources better, and be less maintenance.


Posted by Dj Dizzy on Sep-18-2007 21:14:

so I brought it back up and wasn't so lazy about security this time around. i was also running an FTP along with the website through IIS on the same partition, I'm thinking the FTP is how the were able to go nuts on the server.

So I:
*partitioned the drive into 3 different volumes to keep everything segregated (one for the OS/apps, second for the website files, third for the ftp)
*dumped IIS altogether and now running Apache for the website and FileZilla for the FTP
*changed all pages from ASP to PHP with NoExec noted in Apache
*Still running ISA on Windows Server 2003 Web Edition

I think I should be good now but we'll see


Posted by nchs09 on Sep-18-2007 21:33:

find him and kill him. who needs a firewall when you have a gun


Posted by Ian on Sep-18-2007 21:52:

quote:
Originally posted by nchs09
find him and kill him. who needs a firewall when you have a gun


your pc

*clicks away*


Posted by gehzumteufel on Sep-19-2007 01:26:

quote:
Originally posted by Dj Dizzy
so I brought it back up and wasn't so lazy about security this time around. i was also running an FTP along with the website through IIS on the same partition, I'm thinking the FTP is how the were able to go nuts on the server.

So I:
*partitioned the drive into 3 different volumes to keep everything segregated (one for the OS/apps, second for the website files, third for the ftp)
*dumped IIS altogether and now running Apache for the website and FileZilla for the FTP
*changed all pages from ASP to PHP with NoExec noted in Apache
*Still running ISA on Windows Server 2003 Web Edition

I think I should be good now but we'll see

well your chosen alternative is loads better. good luck!


Posted by Rostros on Sep-19-2007 13:28:

Haven't used IIS in a while , I must say Apache 2.2 looks really secure and doesn't take up much resources, your http.conf config files are really easy to edit. Also you can implement additional SSL Security in seconds, also you can restrict I.P Addresses or Ranges.

You could also use a different Server Port to try and hide your server better.


Posted by AnomalyConcept on Sep-19-2007 16:42:

LAMP =
Linux
Apache
MySQL
PHP

Apache is available for Windows and is pretty solid.

Since you're running in a VM environment anyway, you could give Linux a try. I don't know if there's a similar thing to iptables in the Windows stack, but you could have it automatically add rules to iptables to block people that make a ridiculous amounts of attempts on whatever services you're running.

What exactly are you running on your webserver, anyway? I used to run one on my computer for development purposes, but it was compromised (through phpMyAdmin). I ended up just requiring a user/pass for the entire site, but I guess that still doesn't help with people trying to brute-force credentials.


Posted by Dj Dizzy on Sep-19-2007 17:23:

quote:
Originally posted by AnomalyConcept
LAMP =
Linux
Apache
MySQL
PHP

Apache is available for Windows and is pretty solid.

Since you're running in a VM environment anyway, you could give Linux a try. I don't know if there's a similar thing to iptables in the Windows stack, but you could have it automatically add rules to iptables to block people that make a ridiculous amounts of attempts on whatever services you're running.

What exactly are you running on your webserver, anyway? I used to run one on my computer for development purposes, but it was compromised (through phpMyAdmin). I ended up just requiring a user/pass for the entire site, but I guess that still doesn't help with people trying to brute-force credentials.


I'm just running a little website
http://ATLscene.servemp3.com

If it has problems with the current setup it's on now then I'll try it with the LAMP setup that was mentioned and dump Windows. Unfortunately I can't run any SQL or db apps on the webserver since it's web edition, it's stripped down alot and focuses only on webhosting, although I must say it doesn't even do that very well.


Posted by gehzumteufel on Sep-19-2007 21:17:

quote:
Originally posted by Dj Dizzy
I'm just running a little website
http://ATLscene.servemp3.com

If it has problems with the current setup it's on now then I'll try it with the LAMP setup that was mentioned and dump Windows. Unfortunately I can't run any SQL or db apps on the webserver since it's web edition, it's stripped down alot and focuses only on webhosting, although I must say it doesn't even do that very well.

lol windows wasnt meant to be a server. no matter what version you have.



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